Publication Type: Session Paper
Abstract: Theories of affective labor usually focus on how emotion and care have been dislodged from presumably non-economic realm of women’s work and turned into commodities and feminized service sector job requirements. Our research traces a parallel diffusion of market logic, in the form of a culture of entrepreneurialism, into women’s unwaged domestic affective labor in the home. Taking the multimedia Dr. Phil empire of advice books, a TV program, and a companion web site as our case study, situate the diffusion of managerial rationales and techniques for producing the emotional health, stability and well-being of the postfeminist family within a climate of neoliberal social policy, including George Bush’s Healthy Marriage Initiative. We show how the Dr. Phil program of “strategic and purposeful” simultaneously genders and mobilizes affective labor in the service of welfare privatization, and how the Dr. Phil corporation in turn relies on women’s affective labor to produce its immaterial product—the Dr. Phil brand. We show how the synergy and interactivity of "convergence culture" makes Dr. Phil's brand of self help possible, enabling the extraction of surplus value from the laborious “self work” Dr. Phil's customers perform on themselves as a condition of their freedom and empowerment.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Assessment of student learning at the college level has been growing within the past decade. Likewise, within the discipline of sociology assessment is being increasingly emphasized. Many sociology programs are beginning to thoroughly assess their majors. However, little research is being conducted on what students are learning in the most basic sociology course, namely Introduction to Sociology. This paper describes an exploratory assessment of the sociological thinking abilities of a class of introduction to sociology students at a small, rural public university in Pennsylvania. Students were asked to explain how society influences the behavior of individuals at the beginning and end of the semester. Analyses of the responses indicate that many students show up for class with no understanding of sociology while others have a strong sociological imagination. Considerable growth occurs over the semester. Finally, incoming sociological awareness is strongly related to classroom performance throughout the whole semester.

Publication Type: Invited Paper
Abstract: Where will my support be located or how shall I live? (living in community; living with children, friends, roommates, etc.) Many of us end up moving away from the College and the community where we were known, recognized, and even respected most of the time. We headed back to where we grew up, to where family resides, or to a warmer climate. Teaching part time is not planned for a few years, because family commitments and responsibilities do not allow for a regular schedule. Besides seeking social opportunities, time is spent trying to cut through the red tape in areas of health care, repair services, our children's teachers, retirement community employees, lawn care workers and the like.

Publication Type: Individual Paper
Abstract: The celebration of diversity is not welcome in the “Survival of the Fittest.”

This workshop, "Survival of the Fittest?": How History Courses Can Debate this Idea Through Dr. King's Leadership, will help reinvestigate academically appropriate ways in the Western Tradition as they relate to the presentation of leadership values, "natural" values, and changing definitions of "equality." I will share some actual lesson ideas that provide faculty and students with an appropriate vehicle to incorporate a modern Western vision of leadership on non-violence through Dr. King, followed with an acknowledgement of the influence of Gandhi on Dr. King's vision. Together, we will explore how students can react, and strategies for how to open up a dialogue on new understandings of power, leadership, and strategies that are based on concepts of "brotherhood" and "sisterhood" and not fragmented and separate societies.

Some students are in the "bigger is better" mode - big money, big houses, expensive cars, expensive clothes, and an expensive, status world. When I ask students whether King's vision of leadership would be considered "fit" in the Social Darwinian sense, or if the definition of leadership should change to incorporate more of a Kingian construct, there is sometimes complete silence. King's and Gandhi's examples are powerful opposites that require students to stop and re-examine their values, and this process can indeed be quite powerful.

By highlighting the historical accomplishments, speeches, and actions of Gandhi and King, we can look at how having a different leadership view might have changed historical outcomes.

Publication Type: Panelist Abstract
Abstract: The election of Barack Obama to the presidency of the United States is a seminal historical event. Yet, beyond the historicity and the symbolism, what does Obama's presidency mean to African people in the U.S. and the world. While there are Africans who take a "wait and see" and "give him a chance position," this paper posits that African-centric and Pan-Africanist critical analysis demand significantly more. Though speculative in nature, this paper suggests that the answers to the probabilities and possibilities of this historical moment extant. Does Obama's presidency speak to the best interest of African people? This paper seeks to answer that question and others through the writings and insights of Dr. John Henrik Clake.